


breathing deeply, walking backwards

by mingowow



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Amusement Park, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Lovers, M/M, all of ot13 will be in this so i'll add them as they appear, also there will be other pairings that i'll add, other things might be added too idk, sort of ish??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 19:31:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11996493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mingowow/pseuds/mingowow
Summary: There’s something significant to be said about your first summer job.The thought of spending his days lazing around carnival games and giant stuffed pandas seemed a lot more appealing than working as a waiter or worse, in retail. He thought about it long and hard and when the offer finally came in, he agreed because really, how awful could it be working at an amusement park?





	breathing deeply, walking backwards

**Author's Note:**

> what if ot13 all worked at an amusement park together? absolute shenanigans. also my timing is impeccable because i choose to start writing a summer fic as summer is ending...
> 
> unbeta'd as always! sorry for any mistakes.

There’s something significant to be said about your first summer job. That’s what Minghao’s father tries to convince him over the phone anyway, after he laments about the lack of free time he’ll have. Work wasn’t foreign to the twenty year old boy but his pay always came from less restricting means: babysitting, lots of tutoring (Chinese and history, mainly), and the odd job shoveling snow or cutting grass. He had yet to experience the “character building” nature of clocking in and out every day, putting in your 8 hours with an unpaid lunch shared amongst coworkers you’re forced to interact with. It seemed... well, cumbersome was the word that came to mind. But if Minghao wanted to stay in his college’s town over summer vacation so he could attend special dance classes and meetings, a “real” job was a necessity. 

Even if a nearly full time summer job (but not actually full time; why would they do that when they’d actually have to give him benefits? Pricks.) seemed taunting, he has to admit that his roommate Soonyoung hooked him up with one that had the _potential_ to be a fun time. He lined him up with the an interview at his own workplace, Pledis Park, the local amusement park. It seemed like a good enough fit at the time, given that Minghao loves thrill rides and deliciously fried albeit going-to-kill-you food. There was an opening in the games operation sector (where Soonyoung himself worked) and the thought of spending his days lazing around carnival games and giant stuffed pandas seemed a lot more appealing than working as a waiter or worse, in retail. He thought about it long and hard and when the offer finally came in, he agreed because really, how awful could it be working at an amusement park?

He doesn’t have a car, and neither does his roommate, unfortunately, so they are both forced to take the bus to the park. It’s so early in the morning that Minghao can barely open his eyes to let in sunlight so he misses half the ride there. It’s about 45 minutes with all the stops beforehand and Soonyoung is snoring softly against his shoulder until he jostles him awake.

“Wha--?” his delirious with sleep roommate whines out. 

“So we’ll be working together, right? Like actually _together_?”

“Jesus Minghao, how many times have we talked about this?” Soonyoung scoffs, rubbing at his eyes with the sleeve of his windbreaker. “Yes, you’ll be on games with me.”

“And your boss was clear about that?”

“If you don’t shut up and let me nap for the next ten minutes, I’ll make sure he changes that.” 

He does let the other nod back off but it might have been for naught. 

Clearly he overly trusted Soonyoung’s salesmanship skills because less than an hour in to his first shift, he wants to strangle his roommate for misleading him.

“You said this was for a job in the _arcade_.”

“It was!”

“Then why the fuck am I told I have to go through orientation regarding park guest safety on all ‘thrill rides’? And having to sign over my soul on all these fucking legal mumbo jumbo contract things?”

“Look, evidently MingMing quit last minute and obviously it’s more important to have a fully staffed ride operation team than a game sector staff, so...” Minghao glares at him even more and despite it, Soonyoung gives a little grin. “Look at this way, at least it means they think you’re trustworthy?” Minghao heaves a sigh, running his hand through his hair.

Maybe he was making it a bigger deal than it was but he was hoping for a stress-free summer job. Shooting hoops in his downtime with his close friend seemed ideal, not operating one of the park’s biggest, arguably most dangerous rides. What if someone fell out of their seat on his watch? How fucked up would that be?

“Look, once they find another body to hire, I will talk to Seungcheol and see if he can have the boss man switch things around, okay?” Soonyoung offers, fiddling with the three buttons at the top of his park issued polo. The purple is grossly cartoonish and he looks ridiculous in it, which means Minghao will probably look even worse.

“Yeah. Yeah, okay, fine.” Minghao quickly finishes scrawling his signature across the stack of papers handed to him the minute he walked in from a guy named Joshua, who is manning the ticket booth. “Are you training me at least?”

“Ah, no. I’ve only been here a year and they give orientation duty to the vets. You’re with Mingyu the rest of the day.” Minghao hums in thought.

“Is he cool?” 

Before Soonyoung can answer, there’s a clanging and commotion just outside the employee’s break room. There’s a muffled ‘ _shit_ ’ that reverbs through the glass windows and Minghao can hear two men conversing, one of which he assumes is that doe-eyed Joshua guy.

“And that would be Mingyu. Gotta run, I’ll catch you after so we can take the bus home together?” He doesn’t wait for a reply before slipping out the door, bumping into a tall, lumbering figure. Another crash echoes throughout the room and Minghao now knows for sure Joshua is one of the bodies outside.

“Mingyu,” he says within a loud sigh.

“I’m sorry! That time it wasn’t me, Soonyoung shoved me--”

“Your Slenderman limbs were in the way, it’s not my fault I didn’t have anywhere to move!”

Minghao rolls his eyes at Soonyoung’s high-pitched whining voice as the door is pulled shut and he hears the two guys continue to bicker as Joshua’s calming voice sweeps in between them. 

What the hell did Minghao get himself into?

Never mind that the park seems to be run by less than qualified individuals (did that make him under-qualified too?) based on the stories his roommate has told him (“I swear, Jihoon ripped off his Patty the Platypus headpiece and chucked it at the guy for asking him how it felt to lay eggs.”), with the near ten minute exchange he’s forced to witness through a thin door and frosted window, he assumes the guy in charge of training him is a complete and utter idiot too.

When the door finally flies open, Minghao shouldn’t be so surprised by how incredibly handsome he is because if he’s a bumbling fool then there has to be some factor as to how he landed a job at all.

“Hey. Hi, sorry, there was just... a bit of a mess I had to clean up,” the absurdly tall boy tells him. Minghao gives him the once over, mainly because he’s so freaking long, and notices dark smudges along the front of his khaki shorts. He must be staring because Mingyu clears his throat and helplessly wipes at the stains. “It’s dirt. From a potted fern. Or small tree. I don’t know, I’m not really into horticulture.” 

Minghao raises an eyebrow but keeps his snarky comments to himself. The faster he gets through this orientation nonsense, the faster the day will hopefully go.

God, Mingyu likes to talk. Like incessantly, never shutting up, how are you still _breathing_ , man? The three orientation videos they are forced to sit through ended thirty minutes ago (Minghao had asked why Mingyu was there with him just to watch videos. “I like seeing the terrible acting, it’s hilarious. I’ve got all their facial expressions memorized. Watch this guy handle a line hopper. He looks like he’s constipated.”) but they are still sitting in the cramped employee lounge.

“So I mean, it’s cool that we get discounts on food and stuff but I think we should get free lunch.It’s the least they can do, you know? Though Chan lets me sneak stuff sometimes.”

“Uh, Mingyu.” Mingyu hums in response, smiling happily when he looks over at the trainee. Truthfully, Minghao had zoned out about fifteen minutes ago but the taller boy seems none the wiser. “Are we ever gonna actually see the park?”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess a tour would be good, huh?” Thank _god_. Minghao sighs, quickly standing up in his chair. “But first we gotta get you your uniform.”

It’s atrocious. If the Barney purple thing was awful on Soonyoung, it’s unbearable on Minghao. It clashes with the reddish brown tint of his hair and he feels like it makes his skin look sickly. His closet is void of purple and for good reason. When he emerges from the bathroom grumbling to himself, Mingyu looks up from his clipboard and gives this annoying lopsided smile.

“It actually looks pretty good on you. That can’t be said often.” Minghao has half a thought to tell him to fuck right off because he _knows_ it looks hideous and the lumbering idiot before him can actually pull it off with his tan skin and dark hair. But instead he simply sucks in his lips and motions to the door, hoping they can get on with things.

Minghao’s only been to the park once before, during Halloween last year when they had a giant festival for the holiday and Soonyoung had dragged him along. He vaguely remembers some of the rides but the layout of the place is lost on him and it only takes about ten minutes for him to get confused. Mingyu moves so fast, quickly rattling off information and important locations with a flick of his wrist and a point of his finger, never stopping. His legs, Minghao realizes, are of course obnoxiously long because he can barely keep up with the park veteran without breaking into a light trot.

“Can I get like, a map or something? You’re already confusing me,” he admits, his eyebrows drawing together. Mingyu’s feet finally stop, turning at his hips to look over at the other. He’s frowning and despite his annoyance with the taller boy, he doesn’t want to piss over his supposed ‘superior’ already. Not only does he need this job to stay in town for the summer but he doesn’t want any negativity to bounce back on Soonyoung.

“Oh, sorry. When you know something so well, I guess it’s easy to forget that it might be too much information for someone else.” Minghao’s face twists and he’s not sure if he’s just been insulted or not. “You’ll get the feel of the place after a while.” Mingyu starts walking again, flipping through the papers on his clipboard and Minghao is pretty sold on the idea that it’s just to make himself look more official. He rolls his eyes before quickly taking off after the sauntering idiot who promptly bumps into a guest and apologizes profusely. It must be his smile or his over-zealous humility because after about half a dozen different apologies, the woman finally cracks a small smile and pats his arm before taking off against with her children.

It’s remarkable because Minghao knows if he was on the receiving end of Mingyu’s obvious clumsiness, he wouldn’t be so quick to find it endearing. Clearly.

“But shouldn’t I know where bathrooms and first aid and important shit like that is?” he inquires, falling into step beside Mingyu and his stupidly long limbs. 

“There’s three first aid centers. One next to the ticket office up front, one in the back left corner and one in the back right. All attractions are prepped with first aid kits though and we got staff that rides around the park all day in case of emergencies.” He appears distracted, his voice seemingly more monotone than it had been all morning. His nose is practically buried in his clipboard and instinctively, Minghao pulls on his sleeve when he’s about to bump into another unaware park guest fiddling with his camera. 

Mingyu stumbles off to the side, narrowly missing the man and looking over at his trainee half bewildered. Minghao is sure there’s a slight scowl on his face because really, this has felt like a waste of a morning.

“Thanks,” Mingyu finally states, his cheeks seeming to darken in color and a small smile twitching at the corners of his lips. Maybe that act works on other people but Minghao doesn’t buy into it, nope, not for a second.

“Bathrooms?”

“Oh. There’s one right over there if you have to go.”

“No. Shouldn’t I know where the bathrooms are around the park?” he says, heaving a sigh.

“They’re everywhere,” Mingyu shrugs, thankfully tucking his clipboard under his arm. Minghao pinches the bridge of his nose once his back is turned.

By the grace of God, Mingyu finally does something useful and leads him to where he will actually be working every day until who knows when. Naturally it’s the biggest and most intense coaster in the park, accurately named The Brute. Standing at the line entrance, he watches as his stomach drops and twists with every turn of the train, followed by screams of excitement (and probably some of utter fear and regret) from the riders.

“So you’ll be working with Hansol here. He’s been here a year so you’re in good hands, he knows what he’s doing,” the taller boy explains as he leads them down the designated employee path, towards the coaster’s docking station. Minghao hopes Vernon is at least a little better at leading and instructing than Mingyu seems to be because the butterflies in his stomach grow more and more aggressive with every step they climb up to the boarding platform. 

Tidbits from the videos he had to sit through come back to him suddenly. Over 30,000 amusement park injuries nationwide last year, legal nightmare mumbo jumbo, ‘irresponsibility’ and ‘negligence’. It’s not that hot just yet but he can feel himself starting to sweat. He’s only broken from his reverie when Mingyu’s walkie talkie goes off and in attempts to pull it from the clip on his pants, he drops it down a few of the steps. Minghao audibly sighs (he should keep count of how many times he does that at this rate) when he picks it up and hands it back to him, another stupid sheepish smile on his face when he takes it in his huge, dumb hand.

“Hands up, enjoy the ride, and hold onto your butts, _oooo_ ,” echoes through the platform’s speaker system as the train there slowly rolls on out, accompanying by the clicking of the chains on the track. Minghao read once that those sounds were purposely implemented to increase the tension and excitement of the pull up to the first big drop. Whether or not it’s true, it’s working because he’s tense enough that he’s sure a vein in his forehead is protruding. 

“Hansol!” Mingyu calls out, waving his clipboard in the air at the boy perched behind a giant control panel tucked in the corner of the wooden landing. He looks up and cracks a very gummy grin at the two of them before leaning away from the microphone. “Hansol, this is Minghao, MingMing’s replacement.”

“Glad they found someone with a similar name, makes my life easier,” Hansol jokes (Minghao assumes it’s a joke and he smiles at it too) before giving the newbie a small wave and nod. 

“Can you show him the basics and get him acquainted? Coups needs me to head over to bumper cars. Another rogue driver.” Hansol sighs but there’s a hint of a smirk on his face.

“Poor Seokmin, no wonder he’s afraid to get his license. But yeah, no problem.” The two share some strange and overly complicated handshake as Minghao awkwardly stands off to the side. Mingyu turns to him and lets him know in far too many words that he’ll meet up with him again around lunch time. He takes so long to part ways that Hansol is able to send out two more trains of excited riders.

“God, that guy loves to talk,” he accidentally lets slip out once Mingyu is climbing back down the employee stairs. Hansol looks up from the panel and tilts his head.

“He does, he’s great.” It wasn’t the response he was expecting considering he hadn’t made the comment in a positive light, but his tone seems lost on Hansol and that’s probably for the best. He clears his throat and Minghao looks at him expectedly, ready to retain whatever is thrown at him.

"So uhh... I don't know, man. It's pretty simple. This button engages the brakes, this one releases it. This lever pulls the waiting train into the dock. And these individual panels, well you don't have to worry about those now, I guess. A lot of the stuff is automated and we’re just here in case any shit goes awry." The way he speaks about it so casually has Minghao staring at the side of his face, incredulously.

"Um, so I will be handling the control board... thing?"

"Ah, no. We wouldn't have a newbie doing that their first day. Legal nightmare," he whispers at the end, elbowing Minghao's arm. When there's not a response, his face falls a little. "I'm just messing around. But really, you'll be doing seat checks and rider service. Or as we call it, cattle control."

It sounds easy enough. Make sure no ten year olds forget to lock in the over the shoulder restraint and go flying from their seats when the coaster goes into a corkscrew. Forbid any bothersome teenagers from cutting the line. An annoying task, yeah, but much less pressure than actually controlling the ride. 

After dismissing the girl who has previously been assisting him, Hansol does a few trains alongside him. Despite his obvious aloofness, the guy has a gift for interacting with people. He casually (and non-creepily) flirts, he flashes gummy and contagious smiles, he makes the riders laugh. He even has a way of connecting with kids. Minghao tries to take some notes because even though he'd describe himself as a friendly person, he's not always the most outgoing with strangers.

After a couple rounds of watching, he begins to help out, noting some trends. Most younger riders never engage the restraint enough, which he gets because who wouldn’t want some awesome air time? But his nerves get the better of him and he finds himself pushing it down as far it will go, every time, no matter the slight whines or huffs of disappointment he gets in return. 

“Hey Hansol,” comes in over the crackling waves of the named’s walkie talkie. “The line’s extended out the ride entrance. Pick up the pace, it’s too early to be this out of control.” Minghao isn’t sure who the voice belongs to but Hansol’s expression leads him to believe it’s someone he has to listen to.

“Got it, sorry Cheol.” Hansol throws a look over at Minghao. “Think you can handle it on your own now? We’ll go faster if I can stay in the booth.” Minghao nods eagerly, not wanting to add to them falling behind. He feels comfortable enough with his role and the fact that if anything were to go wrong, his conscience would be clean. It’s a fucked up way to think about it, he realizes that shortly after, but anything to ease the stress he has felt all morning is welcomed.

They build up a rhythm, working quicker than before as Minghao gets into a groove. He’s not as chatty or openly warm as Hansol had been, but he smiles as much as he can and makes some casual conversation with guests that seem to be interested in any kind of interaction. 

He’s not sure how long they’ve been working but his zone bubble is burst when he’s walking down the line checking seats and spots Mingyu on the platform, watching him all too intently.

“Do you need something?” he asks blankly before pressing down the restraints of two teenage girls, only breaking his face to give them a small smile.

“Actually you need something. I forgot to give you your temporary pass; you need it to scan into restricted areas. We’ll get your picture taken later today and get you your official one by the end of the week.” Mingyu holds out a laminated badge and Minghao stops before the last row of seats to reach out and grab the badge. He inspects it for a moment before looking up at the other, confused.

“This... has some other guy’s name and photo on it.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s just temporary. We were out of blank temp badges.”

“But what if someone sees me trying to use it? Won’t they think I stole it and I’m like, breaking in or something?” Mingyu blinks at him, clearly not understanding his concern.

“That’s Jae, he quit like three years ago. Plus, nobody’s going to look that closely at it.”

“Nobody checks badges? Isn’t that a bit of a security concern?” This guy is so clueless, Minghao feels like he’s in the Twilight Zone. He hears Hansol call out his name and he’s about to turn towards him when Mingyu him a wave with the back of his hand.

“I just mean nobody is going to inspect your badge closely. Your name is on the employee roster now and if anyone gives you any trouble, just have them call me.”

“This seems a little discerning but whatever you say, boss.” Mingyu’s nose crinkles up and Minghao wonders why he has to make such childish facial expressions all the time.

“I’m not your boss.” Minghao laughs, though it isn’t from joy, and he’s about to speak when the train beside him suddenly begins rolling out of the station. He doesn’t think anything of it for a moment but then the realization prickles on up the back of his neck. He never checked the last row of seats because _someone_ interrupted him in the process.

“Fuck! Hansol!” he yells out, his expletive far too loud for the employee of an amusement park designed for families. He rushes over to his coworker, blatant fear etched in his suddenly pale face. “I didn’t check them all, I didn’t check the last row of seats!”

Hansol’s mind seems to be running on slo-mo because he’s void of any emotion for a good five seconds before his eyebrows raise. Minghao is expecting him to panic or yell at him or alert someone on the walkie talkie. But he just shrugs. “Oh, I thought that’s why Mingyu waved me off.”

Minghao’s fear is suddenly washed out by rage, glaring over at the tall, clumsy buffoon, casually chatting with guests who’ve just seated in the next train. 

“It’s all good. It’s not like anyone has actually fallen off a ride here and died or something.” Minghao appreciates the warped comfort Hansol offers him but that doesn’t stop him from walking to the railing of the platform and watching the coaster train through every loop and turn with a heavy stomach. He’s pretty sure he might throw up but Mingyu calls out his name and god, he could really punch the guy. 

“Minghao, I can’t be checking all these seats for you, Seungcheol’s already annoyed the line’s been gro--”

“Do you know what you just did?!” he practically screams, stomping over towards the tanned boy who seems to cower away at the sudden attack. The train where Mingyu evidently checked seats rolls out of the station. “Can you do _anything_ without messing something up? How do they trust you to do anything here?” Mingyu’s clipboard is hugged close to his chest and most of the guests in line are staring at them openly.

“Uhh.. welcome back, riders! How did The Brute treat you?” Hansol suddenly calls out over the intercom, getting a response of whoops and yells from happy guests. Minghao is busy seething, throwing eye daggers into the bumbling idiot he’s had to spend most of the day with, but from the corner of his eyes he notes that all four seats in the back row are still full with bodies, meaning nobody fell to a traumatic death.

Suddenly Mingyu seems to gain his composure, his back straightening and arms dropping down to his sides. Exiting riders funnel around and past them, some throwing curious glances their way. The back of his mind tells him they must be a sight, and not really in a good way. “What _I_ did? You’re the one who didn’t finish doing your job!”

“You interrupted me!”

“You should have made me wait!”

“You gave Hansol some kind of okay sign before I could!”

“Because I thought you had finished since you were talking to me!”

“Guys,” Hansol’s voice rings again over the intercom. Both boys look over at him and he nods toward the freshly loaded train. Mingyu’s lips tighten into a straight line.

“Hansol, Cheol absolutely can’t know about this,” Mingyu tells him, flashing his eyes towards Minghao as if he’s annoyed. Yeah right, like he is the one who has any right to be annoyed. “Unless you wanna get a third work partner this summer.” 

Minghao scoffs as Mr. Clipboard finally leaves them be. He angrily clips his new (fraudulent) security badge to his belt loop before checking the riders’ seat. Every seat, this time.

Once he gives Hansol the thumbs up, he wanders back over to him, trying to let steam off so he doesn’t spend the rest of the day in a blind rage.

“What’s Mingyu’s job anyway? Besides mucking around in everything.” Hansol chuckles a little before sending off the train with one of his borderline funny anecdotes. 

“He does a little bit of everything, jack of all trades I guess. He’s worked here for years. But mainly he helps with maintenance,” he explains once the mic is switched off. Minghao’s eyes widen.

“Maintenance? Like fixing things? He’s actually trusted with that kind of job?”

“You’d be surprised, he’s really good at it. Yeah, he can be kind of clumsy or whatever, but he’s really smart and really good at working with stuff. He does safety checks on all the rides, every day. I wouldn’t want that kind of responsibility. He’s a cool dude.” The mic clicks back on. “Weeeeellllcome back, brave souls!” 

Minghao hums for a moment before peering over the edge of the railing, through the metal track of the coaster. Maybe it’s the obnoxious purple shirt he’s wearing but his eyes are drawn to a figure on the walkway down below that he knows instantly is Mingyu, helping one of the janitors pick up a knocked over trashcan. 

No matter what anyone else seems to think of Mingyu, Minghao is sure he’s marginally incompetent and definitely obnoxious.

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT A CHAPTERED SVT FIC SO HERE GOES NOTHING. i have no idea how long this will be even though i have it vaguely outlined. this has been so nostalgic for me to write so with that in mind, it has a bit of an american feel to it. 
> 
> please let me know what you think and i will do my best to crank out the next bit!
> 
> you can chat with me on twitter @ mingowow!!


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